Address By YCLSA National Secretary Cde Mluleki Dlelanga at the SACP Launch Of Red October Month in Mpumalanga Province

7 October 2018

Bushbuckridge

On behalf of the 4th National Congress National Committee we greet the Leadership of the Party as led by our General Secretary Cde Blade Nzimande, Leadership of the ANC as led by Cde Pat Ngomane, Leadership of COSATU as led by the first Deputy President Cde Mike Shingange, Leadership of SANCO as led by Cde Jay-Jay Skhosana, PYA Leadership and our Provincial Secretary Cde Tinyiko Ntini and the very important people in the life of the YCLSA and the SACP the membership that is present here.

This is not just an ordinary rally, this is the SACP Launch rally of the Red October Month. The legacy of the Great October Socialist Revolution convenes us today. The Great October Socialist Revolution marked the beginning of a new era for humanity and led to the creation of the first Socialist State.

It is not easy to establish a particular date that marks the birth of an idea. Ideas usually take shape through a process that may not be obvious and which may involve theoretical reflection, social practice, definition and seizing the moment, but, if one day or a moment in the history of the struggle for socialism-communism over the 101 years had to be chosen to show particular clarity the concepts that capture across the globe will be and always be the Great October Socialist revolution of 1917.
As the YCLSA, we will continue to host high the Red Flag and we will never allow to diminish the historical role of the Soviet Revolution and its leader Lenin, as well as its undeniable influence in the emergence of other socialist revolutions. To us October Revolution is very significant, without the Great October Socialist Revolution, fascism and imperialism would have dominated the world for a long period of time. Without the Great October Socialist Revolution mankind would have never been able to hope for peace, because capitalism and imperialism were characterized by wars of exploitation and by the division of the world to serve their own interests.

As the YCLSA, during this launch of the Red October Month, we want to assert that our strategic enemy is the monopoly capital. We further want to assert that we are against capitalism, we are for Socialism!

The Party directive on our task as we launch the Red October Month is well understood and captured that &quot;Stop corruption and serve the people selflessly&quot;!
Capitalism as a system is inherently corrupt and capitalism as a system does not care about the people. Capitalism just see the people as a commodity to be used to make profit for it. Capitalism does not care about the well-being of the people South Africa.

We further want to assert that ours is a struggle for socialism. As we fight capitalism and struggling for socialism we do so with the sole intention to seize power, expropriate the exploiters, establishment of the revolutionary dictatorship and create a state of a new type Socialist South Africa, which should show that socialism is a superior or social order.

THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION 1917

The first victorious proletarian revolution in the world history and a proof of the Marxist - Leninist theory and scientific foresight of Marxism-Leninism. The October revolution was the first revolution that was predicted by Marxism as a natural and inevitable transition from the capitalist social formation to a more progressive, to the communist system. This revolution was not only predicted but also planned, prepared and carried out under the leadership of Bolsheviks.

Certainly, one should not understand getting ready for the revolution verbally, as if Bolsheviks had appointed and performed the revolution. It is well known that revolutions cannot be ordered as well as that we cannot set a time table for the revolution. Still, Bolsheviks paved the way to the revolution by means of all their activities, first of all by getting ready for the revolution themselves. Lenin used to argue that &quot;whether or not there will be a revolution does not depend on us alone. But we shall do our work, and this work will never be in vain&quot;

Revolution was foreseen and prepared by way of ingenious and titanic theoretical work of V.I Lenin, by way of the most purposeful political activities of Bolsheviks and heroic struggles of the Russian working class.
Lenin&#039;s work &quot;Imperialism as the highest stage of Capitalism &quot;in which he analyzed the development of capitalism in its highest, monopolistic stage is undoubtedly of special importance for the theoretical preparation of the revolution. In this work he elaborated the theory of Imperialism while revealing its main features and the direction of its development as a parasitic and decaying capitalism in the verge of socialist construction. By the words on the verge, Lenin proved that there is no new phase of progressive development of capitalism following the stage of imperialism. Lenin determined the historical place of imperialism exactly this way despite all opportunistic interpretations of Marxism - Leninism like those of Kautsky, Plekhanov and others, who believed that imperialism should be followed by ultra-imperialism and that revolutionary social-democrats should exceed the limits of the bourgeois-democratic revolution.

Lenin proved that socialist revolution in Russia was possible and that the country was ready for it at that historical moment. Of course Lenin was not the first to discover imperialism itself, but it was he who formulated and explored it as the highest stage of capitalism. In his analysis of objective reality he was the first to point out at the dialectic contradiction arising with the essence of capitalism at the stage of imperialism &quot;some its fundamental characteristics began to change into their opposites and Marx wrote - economically, the main thing in this process is the displacement of capitalist free competition by capitalist monopoly. Free competition is the basic feature of capitalism and commodity production in general. Monopolies , which have grown out of free competition , do not eliminate the latter , but exist above it and alongside it ,and thereby give rise to a number of very acute, intense antagonisms, frictions and conflicts. Monopoly is the transition from capitalism to a higher system&quot;

It was absolutely clear to Lenin that the question regarding whether it is possible to reform the basis of imperialism, whether to go forward to the further intensification and deepening of the antagonisms which it engenders or backward , towards allaying these antagonisms , are fundamental issues in the critique of imperialism . Since the specific political features of imperialism are overall reaction and increased national oppression due to the establishing of the colonial system and oppression on part of the financial oligarchy and the elimination of free competition , a petty - bourgeoisie -democratic opposition to imperialism arose at the beginning of the twentieth century in nearly all imperialist countries. Kautsky neither cared nor was able to oppose this petty-bourgeois reformist opposition , which is really reactionary in its economic basis, on the contrary , he became merged with it in practice, and this is precisely where Kautsky and the broad international Kautskian trend deserted Marxism -Leninism.

In particular that Lenin remarked that &quot;Imperialism significantly changes the relations between bourgeoisie and working class. Some of the working class strata, sometimes considerable ones, move over to the side of bourgeoisie because the latter improves their state at the expense of millions of people in dependent countries and colonies. A part of working class adopt bourgeoisie ideology. In politics, the interests of the above strata are represented by bourgeoisie workers Parties&quot;
It is important to note and understand that within the workers movement, the struggle between revolutionary and reformist wings does occur and get sharper. In Russia, this struggle was shaped as a confrontation between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks.
Lenin further predicted and demonstrated how economic crises of capitalism bring about revolutionary situations. He formulated the concept of revolutionary situation and described the main objective and subjective characteristics of the crisis situation developing on the eve of revolution:

The upper strata cannot rule as they did in the past.

The lower strata don't want to live as they lived in the past.

The inevitable increase of the activities of masses above the usual level.

Meanwhile long before the revolution, Lenin mentioned that it was far from sure that any crisis or revolutionary situation would turn into revolution. He wrote &quot;Neither the oppression of the lower classes nor a crisis among the upper classes can cause a revolution, they can only cause the decay of a country, unless that country has a revolutionary class capable of transforming the passive state of oppression into an active state of revolt and insurrection&quot;.

There is yet another condition necessary for the revolution, that condition is the presence of such a subjective factor as vanguard proletarian Party that arms itself with advanced theory and is capable of leading the insurrection of this revolutionary class. In this case Lenin developed the theory of proletarian party, the party of new type and created the party of Bolsheviks. While setting up the tasks of enabling proletariat to perform into dependent political force, that confronts all bourgeois parties simultaneously, directs all manifestations of its class struggle, reveals to proletariat implacable contradiction of interests existing between exploiters and exploited and clarifies the historical meaning and conditions of the forthcoming socialist revolution.

On the assumption of the law of uneven economic and political development in the epoch of imperialism, Lenin saw in the Russian Empire a weak link that could be torn. Lenin substantiated the possibility of the revolution&#039;s initial victory in a separate country by putting forward a thesis of turning imperialistic war into a civil one. Hence, theoretically substantiated, predicted and practically implemented.

The Great October Socialist Revolution did not establish a sort of long-awaited genuine power of the people or a sort of real democracy, the Great October Socialist Revolution established proletarian dictatorship per se in the form of Soviet.

Comrades, as we launch this Red October Month, what are the immediate threats to advance the National Democratic Revolution and the struggle for Socialism? As we say that the National Democratic Revolution is the directed route to socialism, at all material times we must always to the concrete analysis of concrete conditions as we take the struggle forward. The most immediate threats to advance the National Democratic Revolution and the struggle for socialism in the main are as follows:

Serving the people has been replaced by serving a faction, friends, cabal and family.

Comrades, we are in the period where we are engaged in the Thuma Mina programme as led by the President Cyril Ramaphosa. This campaign is very important as it gives us an opportunity to engage with our people and to serve our people selflessly. As we are engaging in this campaign the Zondo Commission is underway and as the YCLSA we fully support the commission. As we launch the Red October Month under the theme&quot; Stop corruption and serve the people selflessly&quot;. If we agree that corruption is one of the greatest ills facing our government, let the Zondo Commission proceed!

As the YCLSA, we want to say to the President of the Republic of South Africa Cde Cyril Ramaphosa, as you engaging on Thuma Mina Campaign, Thumabona to jail all those who are found on the wrong side of the law.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE

At all material times, we must always respond to this famous question of Lenin, what is to be done? The main question that is facing the congress movement leadership, is how we rise to the problems of the current situation. Our people are learning for leadership like the dry desert needing rain.
It is very important to appreciate that we will never win any battle if we are ill-discipline.
In responding on what is to be done, the following points are very crucial for both the membership of the YCLSA and SACP:

Comrades, as the Party launch the red October Month, as the YCLSA, we will continue to sharpen contradictions by exposing corruption wherever it shows its ugly head. We will continue to provide direction on what must be done to those who are on the wrong side of the law. We will continue to live where our people are at by having structures in all wards. We will continue to lead youth struggles through championing the needs, interests and aspirations of young people both locally and internationally.
We assert our trust in socialism, with great confidence for victory and we assure the Party and the South African Youth that we will always in the front line saying all for the revolution, nothing against it!

Long live SACP
Viva Red October Revolution
Viva YCLSA
Unity to the people
Amandla